LOCATION

-Canada is on the continent of North America.
-The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
-The Arctic Ocean is north and the United States is south.
-Canada is north of the49 th parallel of latitude.
-The49 th parallel was chosen as a border from the Great Lakes to
the west coast.

FACTS

-second-largest country in the world (Russian Federation is the largest)
-ten provinces and three territories (capital cities are in brackets).

THE PEOPLE

-Over 30 million people live in Canada.
-Most of the people live in the southern part of Canada.
-About 77 percent of Canadians live in cities and towns.
-The largest cities are Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Toronto - nearly4 . 7million; Montreal -3 . 4million;
Vancouver - 2 million
-The two main languages are English and French.
-French is spoken by about 6 million people.
-Canada is the home of over a million Aboriginal people.

LAND AND WATER

-There are oceans on three sides - Pacific ( west), Atlantic ( east), Arctic (north).
-Nearly one-fourth of all the fresh water in the world is in Canada.
-Glaciers shaped the land and created many lakes (about 2 million lakes).
-The Mackenzie River ( in the N.W.T. ) is the longest river in Canada.
-Ships sail inland on the St. Lawrence River (from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes).
-Forests cover almost half of Canada.
-Canada has one-tenth of the world's forests.
-Mount Logan in the Yukon is Canada's tallest peak at5 , 959metres.

GEOGRAPHY

HISTORY

-The first people were the Aboriginal people.
-Explorers and settlers from Western Europe arrived in the1500 s
-Canada was named by the French explorer Jacques Cartier (1535).
-The name "Canada" comes from the Huron and Iroquois word "Kanata" meaning "village".
-Canada became a country on July1 st,1867 .
-The first provinces were Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec.
-The first prime minister was Sir John A. Macdonald.

RESOURCES

-Forests, plants, animals and fish are some of Canada's renewable
resources.
-Renewable resources can be replaced by nature.
-Minerals, metal, natural gas, and oil are some of Canada's nonrenewable
resources.
-They cannot be replaced by nature.
-Hydro-electric power is sold to the United States.

-There are many different types of farms in Canada:
grain farms, vegetable farms, fruit orchards, livestock
and dairy farms
-There are 39 national parks in Canada.
Parks were created to protect
the forests, plants and wildlife. Canada also has laws to protect
the wild animals and plants that are endangered. Hunting, mining and logging are not allowed in parks.

TRANSPORTATION

-The main highway system (completed in1962 ) is called the Trans-Canada Highway.
-It goes from St. John's NFLD to Victoria, B.C.
-The highway is over 7700 km. long ( 4833mi.).

-Workers began to build the national railroad in1872 .
-The Canadian Pacific Railway was finished in1885 .
-Upon completion many settlers were able to travel west.

-In 1937 Bombardier invented the first snowmobile.

GOVERNMENT

-democratic system of government
-Parliament of Canada is in Ottawa
-Parliament consists of House of Commons (elected) and
Senate (appointed)
-Prime Minister - Steven Harper (leader of the Conservative Party)
-The Liberal party is the current opposition party.

SPORTS

-Hockey is the national sport of Canada.
-Canadians also swim, ski, golf, curl, ride horses, play baseball,
football, soccer, tennis, and lacrosse.
-The native people of Canada invented the game of lacrosse.